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The South Carolina State Bulldogs take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. Check out our college basketball odds series for our South Carolina State South Carolina prediction and pick.
The South Carolina Gamecocks take the court this season under a new head coach. Frank Martin guided the program to the 2017 Final Four, where the Gamecocks lost to Gonzaga in the national semifinals. It seemed likely that South Carolina basketball would take off and become extremely successful, but that did not happen. South Carolina struggled the next several seasons, and the Martin era came to an unceremonious end.
Lamont Paris is the new head coach. He comes from Chattanooga, where he led the Mocs to the NCAA Tournament and a near-upset of Illinois in the 2022 first round. College basketball insiders think the Gamecocks made a very good hire here. In time, Paris is expected to make South Carolina basketball a factor once again. The first season shouldn't be the measurement of how well he will do. It's more than reasonable to say that Paris has a one-year grace period, and that this season will be spent learning about his surroundings in the SEC and elsewhere, figuring out how to plot a course which will make the Gamecocks a strong program once again.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the South Carolina State-South Carolina College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: South Carolina State-South Carolina Odds
South Carolina State Bulldogs: +23.5 (-106)
South Carolina Gamecocks: -23.5 (-114)
Over: 136.5 (-106)
Under: 136.5 (-114)
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Why South Carolina State Could Cover the Spread
It's the first season for South Carolina under new head coach Lamont Paris. This will require a lot of adjustments and the natural process of players getting acclimated to each other. South Carolina will go through a lot of choppy waters before it finds a rhythm and the consistency it needs to be a reasonably good team. The spread is really large, and so South Carolina State doesn't have to play an extraordinary game to cover the number.
Why South Carolina Could Cover the Spread
South Carolina State has significant attrition at the start of the season. Travion McCray is out for the season, and Latavian Lawrence is academically ineligible to play for this game. Those two players were expected to be core performers for the Bulldogs this season.
More than that, South Carolina State's previous coach, Tony Madlock, accepted the open head coaching job at Alabama State last April. South Carolina State's administration did not fill the vacancy until mid-July. Erik Martin is well behind in his ability to field a team, get all the players on the same page, and have enough talent and depth to be reasonably competitive this season.
You don't have to be convinced that South Carolina will be a good team this season. The Gamecocks probably aren't going to be a contender for an NCAA Tournament berth. However, South Carolina State is a real mess, and that can affect this game in a way which is favorable for the Gamecocks.
Final South Carolina State-South Carolina Prediction & Pick
South Carolina State not having two of its better projected players available for this season opener seems like a pretty big deal. S.C. State might be such a threadbare team that South Carolina — though expected to be mediocre this season — can still win this game by a very large margin.
Final South Carolina State-South Carolina Prediction & Pick: South Carolina -23.5
